Chapter 3:

I jogged through the woods, looking around for someone on the Red team. The forest was eerily silent, and a slight chill snuck up my back. I figured it was just nerves, but with someone like me, you never know. I slowed down, trying to listen for movement, but heard nothing. If you haven't noticed, I get really into this game. REALLY. INTO. IT.

I stepped aside to avoid to a tree, and froze. Something had just rustled in the bushes behind me. I slowly spun around, but nothing was there. Probably just some monster, I thought, facing front.

I barely had time to duck before the bullet would've gone straight through my face. Three skeleton warriors were standing about ten feet away from me, all holding pistols. I gulped. These were the same skeletons that tried to kill me a few years ago- and did I mention that they are invincible? I noticed a figure behind them, and the warriors stepped aside, revealing Nico. His arms were crossed, and looked impatient.

"Percy, Percy…You really think you'll get past me?" He said skeptically. "I know what Chloe's plan was. I am everywhere, in the shadows, always watching. Seriously, you shouldn't underestimate me."

"Uh, Nico? Maybe these things are a bit dangerous…" I tried to say.

He waved his hands, and the soldiers pressed the triggers. I figured I was done for when the bullets were slammed out of the air, flying straight up into the air. I whirled around, a saw a boy of about fifteen facing Nico with a determined look on his face. The boy wore a white T-shirt under an unzipped jacket, and plaid shorts. He was a bit taller than me, and had bright, golden eyes. His eyes narrowed, and nodded at me, walking forward. Nico laughed.

"What's this? A son of Aether thinking he can defeat my unstoppable force? Wow, we seriously need to work on our intelligence levels here."

The son of Aether smirked.

"Actually, BoneBoy, I don't think I can beat your skeletons. I know I can."

Nico sniggered loudly.

"That has got to be one of the oldest comebacks, ever!"

The son of Aether shrugged.

"It works for me."

He waved his hands, and the air around me began whipping around in strong waves. I grabbed onto a tree as leaves began flying everywhere, and a strong beam of light fell down onto the clearing. My body was lifted into the air, and I stabbed Riptide into the tree to hang on. The piercing light was painful, and even with my eyes slammed shut I could feel the power of the sun radiating into the clearing. The skeletons were blinded, and Nico was screaming. The warriors began to tremble, and then slowly, the vortex ripped apart their bones. Nico's forces were torn apart in front of him, and he was forced to watch as their bones flew into opposite corners of the forest. Nico bit his lip, and ran away.

I smiled, and let go of the tree. The light vanished, returning the clearing to its dark state. The son of Aether released his hold on the air, and turned to me.

"Hey, Percy. My name's Kyle. You're welcome."

And with that, Kyle was gone, vanishing through the trees. I frowned, thinking, well that was incredibly random!

I continued my walk through the woods, wondering what I would come across next.

My ears were beginning to pick up the sound of voices and shouts, so I knew I was getting closer to the flag.

This is it! I thought. Time to show Lance that he isn't all that.

I was getting pretty confident when I stepped in a bunch of mud, getting my shoe filthy. I groaned, and began wiping my shoe against a tree. Almost all of the mud had come off when I looked up, and saw a boy of about sixteen standing a couple of yards away, dressed in all red. He wore no armor at all and no visible weapons.

I frowned, and stepped forward, pulling out Riptide at the same time.

"Hi."

The boy cracked his knuckles.

"Shut up. I'm not here to talk. Cratos will triumph over Poseidon."

I raised my eyebrows. Someone was a little cranky.

"Did Sydney do something to you? Look, I'm sorry. I know she's all psycho and-

"Shut up!" the boy said. "I don't have time for your incessant prattling! I'm just gonna knock you out and move on."

Two things. No one tells me they've had enough of my "incessant prattling". If Annabeth can deal with it on a daily basis, so should everyone else. And who says that anyway? Second, I didn't really get how this kid was going to knock me out…?

The kid started walking towards me, flexing his arm muscles. I gulped, and uncapped Riptide. The bronze gleamed, but the boy just smirked and kept walking towards me. He pulled his fist back and was about to swing when something slammed into his "lower stomach" area, sending him flying face-first into the mud. The air shimmered, and Annabeth appeared, smiling.

"You're so lucky you have me around, Percy." She smirked.

I grinned.

"What would I ever do without you?"

Annabeth frowned.

"Is that sarcasm I hear?"

I shrugged.

"Maybe. Now how's the game going?"

Annabeth bit her lip.

"Not so great. Ares, Hephaestus, Morpheus, and Phoebetor have charged our border. All the Morpheus kids are putting everyone to sleep, and Phoebetor making it worse with nightmares. Although, Aphrodite is surprisingly putting up a good defense tonight. That Macy girl had guys literally bowing down to her. She's kinda scary."

I nodded.

"Ok, well I'm gonna go and try-

Before I could finish my sentence, loud shouts interrupted the silent clearing. We turned, and about twenty Hermes and Nemesis kids came sprinting out of nowhere, drawing swords and daggers. Annabeth jumped.

"Percy, go! Get the flag!"

I nodded, and ran off to my left. I had only gone about twenty yards when a group of Janus kids cut me off, smirking. I was trapped, and Annabeth was long gone. I waved Riptide, but these campers weren't afraid of the blade like monsters. There was no way I could take about thirty campers from all around. I decided to try anyway, but suddenly, all light disappeared, swallowing the entire woods in complete darkness. I started freaking out, fearing that someone would try to stab me in the dark and forget the "no maiming" rule, but a voice whispered in my ear.

"Percy, my name is Helena. I'm a daughter of Nyx, the goddess of night. There is a path right in front of you that leads straight towards their flag. Run!"

I decided not to argue and started sprinting forward, keeping my hands outstretched in case of a tree. I met nothing, and soon I was able to see again. I stopped running, but walked quickly. I could hear sounds of metal, screaming, and other strange noises. I stepped over a tree root and suddenly there was a strange light ahead of me. I stepped backwards, and it disappeared. Curious, I inched forward, until the light returned, forming an Iris message. It was a girl about my age, speaking from somewhere in the woods.

"Hello, Perceus Jackson. This is an automated Iris voice message. You are within 100 yards of the Red Flag. Be careful. Once you make contact with the flag, Nyx campers will provide an safe escape route, and Zelos campers will be transported with Demeter campers to your location, escorting you safely to the Blue border. Good luck. Do not let your team down. Oh, and be careful when you touch the flag, as traps and decoys may be set up."

And with that, the message was gone. 100 yards from the flag? Wow. I crept forward, expecting a mass of Red campers to charge from behind a tree, but none came. It was getting pretty loud now, with all the yelling and fighting. Everyone sounded very close, yet I didn't see anyone. A bend was coming up, and I figured this must be where the flag was. I had never been in this far section of the woods, so uncharted territory was a bit creepy. I was about to turn the corner when I felt something tug gently on my arm. I yelped and spun around, only to find the most adorable little girl looking up at me with big, mushy blue eyes.

"H-hewwo…" the girl stammered. "Wwherez my mommy?"

I almost burst into tears, which is a rare thing for me.

"Awww! Ok, um, well…."

I didn't know what to do. This little girl of three of four was all alone!

How could she have gotten in camp though? I thought to myself.

Maybe she wandered in. I mean, we are pretty deep in the woods…maybe the magical boundaries break off after a while?

I figured the best thing to do would be to take this little girl all the way back to Chiron, and see what he thinks. Sadly, it would mean walking back all the way; ruining any chance I had of capturing the flag. I looked at the girl once more, and knew I had no choice.

"I'm gonna take you to a good man," I comforted her. "He'll help you find your mommy."

I grabbed her hand, and led her back to camp.

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1 HOUR LATER

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Finally, we reached Zeus's Fist. The boulders were only about 10 minutes from camp, so I set the girl down and decided to rest my sore legs for a few minutes. The little girl was half asleep, and was mumbling to herself.

"Mommy….wherez my…mommy"

Aww, how cute!

"N-nice…boy…take me too mommy…"

This girl is so adorable!

"Sttupid….sun….of Pooziiiidon…"

Aww! WAIT WHAT???????

I stood up, and the little girl's giggle became a deep chuckle, and she morphed into a teenage girl with long blonde hair.

"What the-"

The girl grinned.

"Daughter of Hebe, goddess of youth. Youth=baby. Think harder next time, BubbleBoy."

She turned around and sprinted away. I sat there, dumbfounded.

I had been tricked by a four year old girl.

The four year old girl wasn't really four years old!!?!?!?!?!!?! FTW.

BubbleBoy? Come on, even Seaweed Brain is better than that!

That girl brought me all the way back to the edge of Blue territory.

Never trust cute little girls. EVER! Don't fall for the puppy dog eyes.

Well that was really stupid. Seriously, that girl just ruined my game! The Red team probably won by now.

I started walking toward the Blue flag, when a huge explosion of fire ripped through the air, not even 30 yards from me. The heat rippled towards me, causing my eyes to tear. Hopefully no one got hurt…

I ran to the open space and discovered a huge battle taking place. More than half the red team was attacking, and the Blue Flag was atop a large rock, behind the battle. I tried to look for Blue campers, but didn't see any. Huh?

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted six Blue kids, unleashing loads of power on the Red forces. Holly was throwing trees at them (yes, actual trees!), Nikki was unleashing some purple spell that blasted campers fifty feet in the air, and then threw them across the forest. Ouch. And then, I saw the four Apollo kids. Well, it was hard to "see" them because they were almost a blur, moving around and attacking so fast.

Reese was sprinting around, blinding people with light and then kicking them in the face, punching anyone in his way. Monica and Chelsea ran backwards and started shooting flaming arrows, ones that would explode on impact, ripping apart any armor and metal it came near. Austin was fighting three Ares kids at once, including Clarisse, who looked pretty angry. Austin shot arrows, swung his bow into a blade, and shot fire and light at everyone in sight. These four were…amazing!

I sprinted into the fight, drawing Riptide. I immediately was attacked by ten campers, and I was too busy to see what cabin they were from. I swung Anaklusmos so hard I shattered one girl's sword into pieces, and roundhouse kicked another boy in the neck. I jabbed a few kids in the pressure spots Annabeth had told me about, and they fell instantly. After five minutes of this, Clarisse sprinted away from Austin, outraged.

"Retreat! Go back, you idiots!"

The army fell back, but several of the head counselors and good fighters stayed back. Monica fought some beefy kid from Hephaestus, and Chelsea was in an intense fight with Amber, Nico's older sister. I watched as Monica kicked the boy off the boulder with out even glancing, and Chelsea launched a ray of light at Amber. Monica backed off as Amber disappeared, reappearing behind Chelsea. I was about to warn her when she spun around, releasing a flare of fire. Amber side-stepped, but lost her footing on the rock, falling backwards, slamming her head into the ground. She was out cold. Monica and Chelsea high-fived, and began shooting arrows at Clarisse, who was already getting assaulted by Reese.

Reese twirled his unknown weapon around, and Clarisse stepped back, almost afraid. She put a determined look on her face, and then charged her spear. Reese smiled, and vanished in a flash of fire. Clarisse ran straight through it, and her hair caught on fire. She screamed like a banshee, and Reese appeared behind her. He kicked her in the stomach, knocking her down, and she tried to trip him, but he jumped and punched her in the side. She yelled in pain, and ran away, roaring.

Reese smiled, and Austin came over, doubled up in laughter. I shook my head in disbelief, turning. Annabeth was fighting Jenna, and they were both serious. Jenna swung her rapier through the air as Annabeth jumped aside, slicing the air where her head was. Annabeth vanished, only to appear behind her, kicking Jenna's sword away, placing her dagger to her throat.

"Get-out-of- HERE!" Annabeth screamed as she kicked her away. Jenna snarled, recoiling into the trees, snapping her fingers.

"Did she just curse you?" I asked jokingly.

Annabeth laughed.

"She wishes."

Holly raced over, and glanced at us.

"Percy! Annabeth! I configured a tunnel in my tree to take us right into the Red Flag space!"

Annabeth beamed at her.

"I swear Holly; you have some Athena blood in you."

Holly took that as a compliment, and gestured us toward the tall tree. We followed, and clambered inside. Holly led us down a staircase to an underground tunnel that went straight, so far until it went black.

"Uh, Holly?" I asked. "Is this tunnel safe?"

Annabeth punched my arm.

"He's kidding."

Annabeth and I sprinted down the passageway, but I had to stop. Annabeth glared impatiently as I leaned against the wall. I didn't have time to explain why I was so tired. She scowled and opened her backpack, tossing a canteen at me. I barely caught it, and drank the entire case of nectar. It was my mom's blue cupcakes, liquidy and warm. Yum. Annabeth raised her eyebrows when I handed her the empty canteen, but I shrugged and started running, totally invigorated and recharged.

We reached the end of the tunnel in about 45 minutes, and I was wondering how the game was still going on.

"Annabeth," I asked. "How is the game still going?"

She looked like I had just asked her what continent we were on.

"Well, there's like, 150 people running around, screaming, and beating the crap out of each other. It usually takes a good five, six hours nowadays. You are only used to the one hour games. Those days are long gone."

I laughed, and we climbed up the staircase made from vines. A hole in the earth opened when I got to the top, and I climbed out.

In split-second, I noticed a couple of things.

1. I was five feet from the flag.

2. There was an even bigger battle going on here.

3. There were twenty Red Team campers surrounding Annabeth and I.

4. Oh shit.

Annabeth jumped up, and I pulled out Riptide, knowing we were gonna get captured. The campers inched towards us when there was a loud, "Tarzan-like" war cry.

I looked up to see Sydney riding the crest of a giant, 50 foot wave, racing towards us. The campers spun around, and began running away. Sydney followed them, and crashed the wave. Water sprayed everywhere, knocking people off their feet. I barely had time to grab Annabeth before a giant current hit us. We stood there, in this underwater state for about twenty seconds, until we surfaced. Annabeth gasped for air. Oops.

A bunch of Zelos kids took the opportunity to freeze all the water, trapping about half of the red army in thick ice. Woo Hoo!

Clarisse had managed to stay dry, and was now fighting Lance. Clarisse thrust her spear forward, the crackling electrical energy slicing Lance's arm. Lance seemed unbothered, and waved his hands. He flew twenty feet in the air, and repeated the air vortex Kyle had made earlier. Everyone was thrown around, and Clarisse's mass weighed her down (hehe). She frowned as he raised his hands to the sky, but still didn't move. The air began to crackle, and the hair on my neck rose. Uh oh.

I looked worriedly at Clarisse, who should by now be screaming like a six year old girl. She just laughed. Then, in almost slow motion, the lightning bolt flew towards the earth. I made sure the kids in the water wouldn't get electrocuted, and glanced up. Clarisse threw her spear in the air, and dived out of the way just in time. The lightning bolt hit the ground, but Clarisse didn't appear to be hurt. How? The spear which had flown through lightning, caught on fire, and hit Lance in the stomach. Luckily he was wearing armor, but he still got the wind knocked out of him, and fell to the ground, passing out.

Clarisse looked around with a confused look, and then narrowed her eyes. Chloe waved her arms, and the air turned to normal. Obviously, Chloe had saved Clarisse, otherwise she would have died. Chloe walked forward, revealing her rapier, and Clarisse summoned a few weapons at will. A large sword appeared in her right hand, and a rocket launcher appeared in her left. Chloe smirked, and Clarisse pulled the trigger.

The rocket shot forward, and Chloe released a bolt of energy seconds later. They collided in mid-air, causing a huge explosion. The smoke didn't clear for a few seconds, but when it did, Chloe was gone. Clarisse roared.

"That little coward! Come back here!"

She stepped toward me, dropping the rocket launcher, wielding the sword.

"You'll do, Jackson."

I walked forward to meet her, but someone got there first. Austin.

I stared. "Austin! Aren't you supposed to be guarding the flag?????"

He chuckled.

"Well, they can take care of it. I wanted to settle a score with Clarisse."

Clarisse laughed.

"I'd love to see you try and beat me, punk."

Although she did look a bit nervous, she marched forward. Austin giggled to himself, then started running around Clarisse, reciting obnoxious poems and haikus. Clarisse got annoyed quickly and demanded him to fight properly, but he just cackled.

"Clarisse…is a beast…she likes feasts…she also likes grease…she's got some yeast-"

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Clarisse shouted, spinning her broadsword in circles.

Austin finally stopped, and opened his backpack.

"Fine. ChunkyGirl is having a bad day, I'll try a different approach," he muttered loudly.

Clarisse roared and charged, and Austin pulled out…a clarinet?

"Doo-ddoo, doo-doo-dlio!" Austin played some funky rhythm, outrunning Clarisse.

All of a sudden, Austin whirled around, and took a huge breath. I realized what he was about to do, and covered my ears. He blew into the clarinet so hard it burst into flames, and a huge sonic wave flew forward, slamming into Clarisse, sending her flying into a tree. Everyone cheered, and I ran to Austin.

"Dude that was awesome!" I congratulated.

Austin grinned.

"Never underestimate the power of music!"

I laughed, and sprinted over to the flag. I glanced around, looking for any obvious traps. There were none, so I picked up the flag. Immediately, the clearing burst into light, like daytime. A siren went off, and tons of Red campers started pouring into the clearing trying to save the flag. Sadly, they didn't know about the ice.

As campers slipped and slid, I willed the frozen water to slide me to the edge quickly, and then started sprinting toward our side. I dodged behind trees as arrows and other weapons flew at me. I tried to confuse my followers, mix up my path. Annabeth was sprinting behind me, her dagger in hand.

I saw Holly pop out of the earth a few hundred yards up with about 20 Blue campers, and they prepared to escort me safely. They circled us, and began running. We spotted the border, where a huge battle was taking place. Apparently this kid from Hephaestus, Garrett (Beckendorf's prodigy apprentice), had taken the flag, and was outrun by the Blue team at the border. His team was trying to get it, but the Blue team had him surrounded. Somehow, he was fending them all off. And that's when they noticed us.

They all started screaming and running towards us, when Annabeth pushed me away.

"Go!"

I ran around, but the Red team just followed me. My protectors began fighting, and that's when I saw them. Clarisse and Sydney were fighting on the exact borderline, and it was vicious. As I ran around them, Clarisse shouted,

"Oh no you don't!"

She shot a rocket at me, and I dodged it time to have the border line catch on fire. Uh-oh. There was no water around for me to douse it with, so I was trapped. I heard Sydney yell, and saw her get knocked out by a blow to the head from Clarisse.

Clarisse picked up her sword, breathed heavily, and ran at me. Time seemed to slow down as I turned, looking desperately for a way across the fire. I saw movement across the line, and noticed Monica and Chelsea waving their hands like crazy. I understood what they meant and threw the flag with all my might over the border. Clarisse roared and stopped charging, watching the flag sail through the air. Monica and Chelsea got ready to catch it, when Garrett came out of nowhere and tackled them both out of the way, the Blue flag still in his hand. As the three wrestled, the flag began to spiral downward.

No! If the flag touches the ground, it goes back to their side!

I tried to stomp on the fire, but to no avail. I suddenly remembered my dad's gift, and slashed Riptide through the air, creating a large wave to douse the fire. I ran forward, outstretching my arms, and…WHAM!

Clarisse tackled me from behind, and I fell to the ground, right where the flag's sharp end should've skewered my brain. I braced for impact, but nothing came. Instead, my ears were greeted with a roar of happiness and cheers. Ugh. Garrett must have gone over the path I had made. Wonderful.

Suddenly, Clarisse started moaning.

"NO! JACKSON, I'll POUND YOUR AS-"

"YEA PERCY!" Annabeth shouted. I got up and saw the Blue Team jumping, screaming, laughing.

"How did we win?" I asked.

Annabeth grinned.

"Reese shot an arrow, and it pinned the flag to a tree!"

I smiled.

"Thank the gods!"

We had won.

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First of all, SORRY. I took months to write this because Im so lazy in the summer, please forgive me.

Second, thanks for reading this!

Third, please review!

Fourth, I know there isn't much plot yet, but I promise PROMISE PROMISE the next chapter will introduce the main plot for this story.

Fifth, PLEASE REVIEW! Lol. Thanks!